Posture is the arrangement or positioning of the human body in relation to the force of gravity. Posture determines how the force of gravity is distributed throughout the body. Muscles, joints, and ligaments are all stressed by gravity. Poor posture, or improper alignment of the body, may cause excessive stress or fatigue on various body parts. This stress may be felt in many ways. For example, a person suffering from bad posture may feel tired or drained of energy. Furthermore, such a person may suffer from sore or tight muscles or stiff and painful joints. For some people, these afflictions are short-lived, lasting for only a few hours or days. However, if poor posture persists over time, more serious injuries, including arthritis or chronic pain, may result. Furthermore, the negative effects of poor posture may exacerbate over time if the underlying cause—that is, the poor posture itself—is not addressed.
Significantly, the effects of poor posture may not be noticed immediately. As a result, a person may not realize he or she has poor posture until after an injury has already occurred. Furthermore, even after suffering from the symptoms of poor posture, a person may fail to realize the cause of his or her afflictions. This allows the damage to the body to continue to compound, resulting in even more severe injuries over time.
Despite the significant detrimental effects of poor posture, many people either do not know what proper posture is or do not realize it when they begin to have poor posture. For example, an office worker who sits at a desk every day may not realize when he or she begins to slump down in his or her chair, stressing his or her knees, hips, and lower back as they are bent out of alignment. Similarly, a teacher who stands all day may not realize he or she is slouching, stressing the joints and muscles in his or her neck painfully. Even after realizing one occasionally has bad posture, for example, by looking at oneself in a mirror or consulting an ergonomics specialist, a person may be oblivious to future instances of poor posture. Accordingly, there is a need for systems, devices, and methods to help individuals to recognize and correct poor posture.